Bowjack let me be the first to weldome you to the "crew". Beyond that your post, IMHO, is spot on especially the part about self directed practice becoming a quagmire. Tom and Yohon whether they know it or not have been "coaches" for me. Why reinvent the wheel ?

The cafateria annalogy is a good one too, if you don't like it dont put it on your plate.

When you take your kid hunting and he says thank you and tells you how much he loves being in the woods with you, your day just isn't going to get any better than that.

Bowjack wrote:While I agree that determined and disciplined practice is required to improve in any endeavor, I believe that only perfect practice that is both diligent and disciplined consistently results in perfect execution time after time. Formless practice without understanding and adhering to basic fundamentals (katas) of any sport or martial discipline is unyielding to consistent positive results in my opinion. More importantly, self directed practice can easily become a quagmire.

Exactly right! There are a lot of us who have nobody else around to learn from or to coach us so we follow directions on the infernet and get ourselves all screwed up. That's why I get turned off when I listen to the same thing over and over about the 5 yard blank bale. Yeah 5 yard blank bale repetition if you've already had someone give you one-on-one instruction. Then it'll do you some good. Otherwise you might spend years spinning your wheels like I did. How many people end up spinning their wheels, get frustrated and turned off to the trad side of archery, and go back to shooting compounds? It happens a lot and it's really sad and it doesn't do our sport any good. If you go to the proshop to get coaching, they'll either spend all the time trying to sell you a Mathews Drenalin or they won't waste time on you at all because they have no clue about trad stuff at all and they don't want to look like they don't know something.

My advice to newbies is to get some real coaching from someone who knows what they're doing, even if it costs a chunk of money. I wish I would have done that. That'll save lots of time and headache and make the sport so much more fun.

I agree. I'm thinking about getting some better instruction, myself. How did you like that Ricky Welch school? How did that work out?

But I'm just thinking back, if I just had someone show me a few things instead of listening to some guys who've never even picked up a trad bow saying "you just shoot it enough and the arrow will go where you look" and crap like that. Then people on the infernet saying "just shoot at the bale at 5 and 10 yards until hell freezes over", I would be so much farther ahead than I am now.

When i shoot out in the back yard i shoot at a blank foam target. I pick a tiny spot or put a leaf on there, something small. Sometimes i just shoot at my first arrow. I try to put it as close as i can without screwing my arrow up.

Other days i just go out and shoot and don't try to group well. Say a 6-10" group back to 30yds or so.

On the target range (3-D) i try to burn a whole in the center of the kill without lookin at my point in relation to the target. If i look at my point much i get "target panic" or for me anyway it's " Lose my arrow Panic". I've had it in the past and caught myself not trusting my minds eye and missed the bullseye, or sometimes the whole target. I hate that worse than anybody.

I try my best to pull the bow all the way back to my anchor point and lock in for a second or two before release. Sometimes though i don't remember touching anchor. AS long as i hit close to where i want i don't worry about it. I'm sure if i could get use to a clicker i could do much better with my shooting.

As others here have mentioned...there really is NO ABSOLUTE right or wrong way of doing things regarding archery...especially if someone is achieving the desired result...BUT there are certain things that an archer can do to help them achieve optimal accuracy and one of the biggest in my opinion is achieving CONSISTANTCY however that may look.

In ANY sport....every athlete has to learn the fundamentals. Some will get it quicker...while others will have to work harder at it.

Some learn it by proper instruction. Some learn it through trial and error by shooting alot...and some never really get it at all.

Hunting form doesn't necessarily look like target form but some people have learned to make their choosen form work for both.

Both will have their advantages and disadvantages under specific circumstances...but IMO, the primary concern regarding form should be consistantcy of draw length, release and follow through or as some may say...conclusion BUT in some cases at very close distances an archer can get away with a little inconsistantcy if they are very in tune with their own capabilities and the capabilitiies of their bow.